


London Done Write

by AtlinMerrick



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: BBC Sherlock meta, Can also apply to Holmesian writers, Canon-compliant some of it...photo based so if pics of London parks, Fandom Meta - Freeform, London Done Write, Meta, Other, Sherlock Meta, shops memorials and so on are helpful here they are!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-03-25 06:51:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3800917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtlinMerrick/pseuds/AtlinMerrick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A photograph-based meta to help Sherlock Holmes or other fan fic writers learn more about London from an American currently living there. Prompt this! Comment on this! Tell people whatchoo know about London so we can all fall in love!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dead Body Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What you'll find along the Thames shore may surprise you.

Writing Sherlock fan fiction is made easier for me because I now live in London. I can literally peer over the side of a bridge to see if it's feasible John would jump from it to go after a *&^%$# cache of evidence dropped in the river, I can say with conviction how unlikely they are to take a cab past Harrods on their way to Brixton (I'm looking at you Moftiss).

So when Beth R. asked me on Facebook what the shore of the Thames was really like, saying that when they found the dead body in  _The Great Game,_ that the shore looked rocky, I thought perhaps I could help non-London writers with facts for their fictions. Enter  _London Done Write,_ a sort-of meta (okayed by AO3!) which I'll publish on Tumblr too (link below so that you can see more and larger photos). Without further ado...

**Dead Body Beach**

The area in _The Great Game_ , where the security guard's body was found on the Thames shore, is both sandy and rocky, though many of those rocks aren’t. The rocks are actually lumps of white and yellow chalk, which you can see in the second photo, where I’ve gathered a few together. Propped against the chalk on the right are two old clay pipe stems, something else you’ll find easily along the Thames shore.

Propped on the left is a bone. The Thames used to be much wider than it is today, I’ve been told, and in reclaiming land from the river, rubbish was long ago dumped along the shore. Much of that rubbish was slaughterhouse bones, as well as broken bits of pottery and pipe. I went on an archeologist-led walk along the southern Thames shore a few years back and one of our party found an eight hundred year old clay shard from a jug. The shard had a face carved into it and the archeologist went breathless.

The Thames shore is made up of many things, stones, chalk, bones, sand…and sometimes things that take the breath away. What can you image on that rocky shore?

(Next up: Regent's Park to Baker Street...how close? Common sites the boys would see?)

_"Sherlock" and imagination are the reasons for this wee series, I hope you find inspiration for your fics or your art. You'll find much larger images[on my Tumblr](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/115687127559/dead-body-beach-beth-royle-asked-me-on-facebook), and I'm delighted to answer questions, though I likely won't have time to answer non-question comments here..._


	2. The Regent's Park

Regent’s Park….it is literally within sighting distance of 221B Baker Street. Depending on your version of Sherlock Holmes, one can imagine the man walking through its leafy green paths mumbling to himself about a case, sitting on its benches heavy-sighing from boredom, or standing on one of its lovely little bridges, holding the hand of his one true love Dr. John H. Watson. (By the way, all the images I discuss below are [big, and on my Tumblr over here](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/119129668044/the-regents-park-regents-park-it-is-literally).)

For this reason I thought you should get a bit of an idea of what the boys see when they see Regent’s Park.

* The first image in this wee series of photos needs no introduction and if it does I think perhaps you’ve wandered over here by mistake. The Doctor Who fandom is to your left behind that blue door, Supernatural is behind those wings, Avengers behind that green door, and Kingsmen through that interesting wardrobe. For those that remain, Our Boys need no introduction and so we move to image two.

* This shows you how close 221B is to Regent’s: [It's that close](https://41.media.tumblr.com/2dc9e66a01a199fb70fb4e0f76360886/tumblr_noa4hnuTSQ1qja1bno4_1280.jpg). Literally at the tip of the arrows those two things can be found. I'll have you know I risked getting run over by motor vehicles so I could stand in the road to show you how close the park is to John and Sherlock’s home. So if you wish to set any sort of story in Regent’s Park know that the boys could crawl there with utter feasibility. Depending on your kink one of them might actually be crawling so there you go...

* The next image is a [map of the park](https://41.media.tumblr.com/7472ed185479f89d0ed42b8104169e0d/tumblr_noa4hnuTSQ1qja1bno3_1280.jpg) and shows you 1) how big the park is 2) where Baker Street is in relation to it (the red circle at the lower left, not the 'you are here' orange blob at the lower right), and 3) it shows you Primrose Hill, a spot I think important if you want to write a romantic or moody moment as Primrose Hill is—surprise—one of London's few hills. From it you can see the London Eye, the BT Tower, and St. Paul's. They are all of them gorgeous at night and Primrose Hill park never closes, unlike Regent's Park, whose gates are locked at dusk (I have hurried through the park many nights, sure I was going to get locked in and slightly-somewhat-a-lot-pleased by the thought). Anyway...

* The third image is taken with me standing directly in front of 221B Baker Street and looking to my left. [That flat row of green hedging](http://40.media.tumblr.com/2e0ac25788642ccd6d4b67e3bb0fd82d/tumblr_noa4hnuTSQ1qja1bno2_1280.jpg)? The hedging of Regent's Park. So again, the boys are very close to the park.

* Go back to the map of the park and where you see the words "The Regent's Park" you'll see what looks like an ant hill, a bump, right below an orange/white circle inside which are the words The Hub. That because right there is The Hub the [glass-walled cafe you see here](https://40.media.tumblr.com/e6b590aa7d82b61a57b4eeed2fbd697b/tumblr_noa4hnuTSQ1qja1bno7_1280.jpg). This cafe is fantastic for many reasons. It's a cafe and that means caffeine, reason enough. But it's also a lovely place to be when it rains because the glass walls mean you feel as if you're outside—and yet you remain dry. If you're tired and don't want to walk around you can be inside during a nice day and still feel you're outside. You can get a light meal and simply bask in London. I think all of these features would appeal to Dr. Watson and probably he'd drag Sherlock with him on days when it's miserable out and the criminals are resting. They might even get up to a few things there (ahem: [Jerk](http://archiveofourown.org/works/655879) and [Blind Date](http://archiveofourown.org/works/875175/chapters/2140883)).

* [The bottom three images](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/119129668044/the-regents-park-regents-park-it-is-literally) are what the boys would see entering the park from the entrance closest to their home. The middle image is the path they'd take, the left image is what they'd see if they looked left, the right image is what they'd see if they looked right.

This concludes our short little tour of Regent's Park as it relates to 221B. If you want a super large map of the Park, so you can get the names of places right, here is [your super large map of the Park](http://ontheworldmap.com/uk/city/london/regent-s-park-map.jpg).

_I hope this helps your writing or London love. I also hope you[allow me to announce a really quite big thing for me over here](https://www.facebook.com/atlinmerrick?ref=hl). Thank you for helping me do this. Because every time you leave a comment you bloody well help me do this._


	3. Wandering around Baker Street...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where do the boys shop? Have a pint? Get over-tight shirts dry-cleaned? Well....maybe at these places right on Baker Street.

So a few folks asked what sort of shops are near 221B Baker Street…where might John and Sherlock shop? Get laundry done? Have a pint? Here are the real-life things near 221B Baker Street. Hope they help with scene-setting for your own _Sherlock_ fics, or to help you imagine when you're reading some.

_*[The All Important Pub: The Volunteer](https://40.media.tumblr.com/7323d9823e804291d9c4b12f21ed88ab/tumblr_npswhrCEC41qja1bno1_1280.jpg)_

When Sherlock's consulting mess drives John round the giddy bend, or flames force them both to decamp to more alcoholic pastures, the nearest pub to 221B is The Volunteer. See those flower bedecked windows to the left of the pub? That's 221B. To get a sense of The Volunteer's take on _Sherlock,_ have a [look at the blackboard out front](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/121302501269/so-this-is-the-pub-thats-nearly-right-next-to).

_*[The Dry Cleaners](https://41.media.tumblr.com/461eb6e319667b4b439d83b0cebf52fa/tumblr_npswhrCEC41qja1bno2_1280.jpg)_

For those purple shirts of sex and perhaps Sherlock's fanciest lingerie, this dry cleaner would be the closest to their home as it's just across the street and a bit to the right. I have decided that this dry cleaner has seen many, many interesting things in the windows of 221B because she's up extra early to be available to the before-work crowd, while John and Sherlock are sometimes up extra late. Doing frisky things near the sitting room windows…

_*[Baker Street Newsagent & Convenience Store](https://41.media.tumblr.com/c52ed6de40ccb01cce1cc7e6b5e34205/tumblr_npswhrCEC41qja1bno3_1280.jpg)_

I have no idea if this place sells lube or jam or sex aids, so if I don't know and I took the photo then probably very few of your readers will know. So have the boys pick up any old thing you want from this newsagent and convenience store! Maybe the shopkeeper is sweet on John, maybe she stocks obscure medical periodicals for him. Sherlock is so _not_ jealous because no, he never asked her to order _Cadavers Monthly_  and no he was not flatly rejected. All three times.

_*[Pret, the nearest chain cafe](https://36.media.tumblr.com/08a10243f1bbf2306874414244a59c43/tumblr_npswhrCEC41qja1bno4_1280.jpg)_

Prets are everywhere in London. No seriously, they are all over the place everywhere and so often within sight of one another you will stand on a corner and gape. In Trafalgar Square you can stand in a certain spot and see three of them. This one is about 30 seconds from 221B, on west side of Baker Street, like their flat. Like all Prets it serves hot soups, coffees of every kinds, great sandwiches, various hot wraps, and croissants. Also, like all Prets, their staff are always happy. I don't know if someone put something in the drinks or the corporation has superb management (I'm going with this latter guess), but the staff are invariably kind and sometimes they give you a free latte or cappuccino or tea because you made them smile.

_*[Tesco, the nearest supermarket](https://40.media.tumblr.com/95342b84547c23d6468fe0d03c729a98/tumblr_npswhrCEC41qja1bno8_1280.jpg)_

Instead of going to that Pret, turn right and about 40 seconds from the flat is the Tesco on Melcombe Street. This is the boys' closest chain supermarket. Tesco is the cheapest chain in central London, with pretty much the lowest-end foods, but for your basics, this is where you'd go. Want something nicer? Read on.

_*[Baker Street tube station](https://40.media.tumblr.com/dc158a02ff888c0c8efa817f13a2f039/tumblr_npswhrCEC41qja1bno9_1280.jpg)_

_ &_

_* Boots Pharmacy_

Baker Street tube station has what seems like eleventy billion entrances (probably there's just the three) but this tube entrance is the one that is closest to the boys and is actually _on_ Baker Street. The other two of which I'm aware are around the corner on Marylebone Road (mar-lee-bone). Actually this is a two-for-one photo as the Boots Pharmacy beside the station is also their closest big pharmacy. _That_  is probably where they buy the lube. Also I’m sure I went to a Boots that stocked vibrators. And not the kind that soothes sore muscles.

_*[Lloyds Bank](https://41.media.tumblr.com/68ce3b383d17100e61e7d3d232f8b4ae/tumblr_npswhrCEC41qja1bno5_1280.jpg)_

This bank is at the corner of Baker Street and Marylebone Road and about a 60 second walk from 221B. If you're lookin' for the closest bank to the boys, this is it, and it's on their side of the road as well. Right across from it is HSBC but since I don't much care for HSBC I didn't to photograph it. Besides, it's on the other side of Baker Street from their flat. Sherlock does not cross the street unnecessarily.

_*[Marks & Spencer (M&S) Mini Market](https://41.media.tumblr.com/289f7ebfca7db6210cca4125f59414a9/tumblr_npswhrCEC41qja1bno6_1280.jpg)_

If Sherlock _did_  cross Baker Street then turned left, he’d be on Marylebone Road. On Marylebone you’ll find not only another tube entrance for Baker Street, you'll find a Marks & Spencer mini supermarket. This isn't one of their proper supermarkets, it’s too dinky for that. This is more where John and Sherlock would grab high-end pre-made meals because they've just got back from a case that had them walking hip deep through the Thames, down into the sewers, then along Regent's canal and damn it  _they are exhausted._ Marks  & Spencer's food is well-made and nice. Their sandwiches are nice. Everything they sell is nice. Pricier than Tesco by about 30%, but very _nice._

_*[The Pie Club ](https://40.media.tumblr.com/4082e16acee4cd37d31c9755841aa9c9/tumblr_npswhrCEC41qja1bno10_1280.jpg)_

Fuck it. John does not want a 'nice' sandwich. He does not want pretty greens with sliced beetroot and English cucumbers and soy-seared salmon god damn it. He wants a fucking savory pie because he has walked half a mile in the Thames and his best shoes have been in a sewer and Regent's canal is a whole lot fucking deeper than it has any right to be, so for dinner they are going to this savory pie shop and they are having piping hot, calorie-dense, wonderful English _pies_ and if anyone has anything to say about it they can _stuff_ it, all right? Good. Fine.

(Um, right. Well. Let's just let John calm down and I'll tell you that this shop is a tiny bit further along Marylebone than the M&S. Call it a two minute walk from 221B at the most. Possibly a lot less if you're fueled by rage and there is sewage in your favourite brogues.)

_* Westminster Magistrates Court_

I was going to put [Westminster Magistrates Court](http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00432/PA-11721759_432954c.jpg) in here because I was sure I must have looked this up so I felt sanguine in telling you that an ex-army doctor and a consulting detective could get married to one another at the Westminster Magistrates Court, which is about a half mile along Marylebone Road from 221B…but then I couldn’t find anything about that on their website. Not that the boys would marry suddenly or secretly  _anyway_ because Mrs. Hudson would chop them up, _then_ murder them, _then_  sell their parts to The Pie Club.

Ahem.

So. This completes our brief tour of the shops near Baker Street. Please feel free to use any of these images or anything I've said here in your own stories. And I'm happy to take requests for where to follow our boys next in London.

_So, am always open to where to go in London though the area around New Scotland Yard may be next—I've already got the photos. Oh, and for the two people who I have managed to miss in shouting about it for the last few weeks,[a cool thing is happening for Ms. Atlin](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=470742856426571&id=411502179017306)._


	4. Strange London Street Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They called it _what now?_

I've no idea what Sherlockian story these signs might help you tell, but that's just the thing—do _you_ know where stories come from? Well, I think I do: Rather one thing I think I know is a certainty and the other a supposition. 

**Supposition the First**

Stories come from the aliens. Why the aliens who talk to _me_ like porn so much I don't know, but they do and there are days where they simply tap me on the head and there my hands go, taking dictation.

I trust that it is sometimes the same for you. I wonder if your aliens are my aliens.

**Certainty the Second**

Stories come from _sitting down and not waiting for 'the muse,’_  then letting prompts you’ve received, knowledge you’ve gained, or a story you love fill you up with fire and set you going.

I think that's the much more fun way to find your story ideas because you yourself are complicit. So, to help give you a bit of a prompt, some knowledge, I offer you these rather amusing street names, the vast majority of which I found in east central London (EC), with one in south east (SE) London.

Even if you don't use any of these names, you now know you can damn well _make something up,_ and so long as you set it in East London there probably won't be a single person to question you. To see a great many more signs, and much larger, [they are over here](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/123380005714/strange-london-street-names-ive-no-idea-what).

This _London Done Write_ brought to you by my relentless love of this ridiculously grand place.

_Next up, either the area around Scotland Yard, or the types of tea, biscuits, jam and honey you can buy in London’s four main supermarkets._


	5. Biscuits! Tea! Honey! Jam!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you've wondered what biscuits, tea, jam, or honey John and Sherlock rub onto one another, eat, or otherwise experiment with, wonder no more!

Biscuits!

Tea!

Honey!

Jam!

If you've wondered what biscuits, tea, jam, or honey John and Sherlock rub onto one another, eat, or otherwise experiment with, wonder no more!

Not only [have I taken slightly good/slightly awful photos for you](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/tagged/tesco-sainsburys-waitrose-marks-and-spencer-oh-my%21) I've also shared below a few wee things I have learned about these items. P.S. The prices you see on the photos were as of mid-2015...

**Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer**

Broadly speaking, there are four main supermarkets here and in order of cheapest to pricey they are: Tesco, Sainsbury's, with a tie between Waitrose and Marks & Spencer (called M&S). Want a good ready-made meal? M&S or Waitrose. Cheap and easy and grab-it-on-the-way home? Tesco, because they are pretty much everywhere.

Physically Tesco is about one minute from 221B Baker Street, with a small M&S being about two minutes. Up the road about twice as far is a Sainsbury's, while I've no clue where Waitrose is in regards to the boys.

Now on to the important bits.

**Biscuits**

You can have John and Sherlock love any old biscuit you please, but the go-to biscuits in the UK seem to be McVitie's digestives, either plain or chocolate covered. They're your stereotypical biscuit, the sort you'd pick up for a morning meeting if someone said, "bring biscuits." Custard creams are popular, too, but digestives are _the_ biscuit. They're oaty and not over-sweet and comforting and good quality and value for money.

**Tea**

Whether or not it's the favourite tea, PG Tips is _everywhere._ It's sort of the default tea if you want to write about a tea John and Sherlock drink, but they could also drink Tetley or Yorkshire, which you see most places, too. When in doubt go for the PG Tips. Also unless it's a small box of specialty tea, the tea bags here do _not_ tend to have strings.

A few asides that have appeared true from where I'm sitting: British folks don't seem to dunk biscuits in their tea. They _do_ have strong opinions on how to make their tea (milk before! no, no milk after! steep the tea for two minutes! no, no, no dip the bag in the water twice and that's strong enough!).

And every home in which I've been there was only an electric kettle, never one on the stove top. Electric kettles are always plugged in and must merely be switched on at the base and then turn themselves off when the water boils.

**Honey**

I can't say I know of any particular honey as being particularly well-loved here and maybe this is because I haven't seen lots of honey in British kitchens. I'm sure it's there, but it doesn't seem a product heavily used in my limited experience. About a third of the folks I know do seem to sugar their tea, but I can't recall anyone putting honey in it.

**Jam**

I also haven't noticed any particular jam flavour favoured in the UK, it seems strawberry, apricot, marmalade, and all the typical flavours you find in the US are popular here as well. You can get jam for super-cheap in the large supermarkets, literally 25 pence for a normal-sized jar. Lemon curd is usually there too.

Lemon curd isn't jam, it's rather like a very thick pudding in consistency and it's lemony and custardy and quite good. I don't see it used a lot on toast but it must get used somewhere since it's usually sold by the jams.

**Make Stuff Up!**

I am sure mileage on all of this information varies, I'm just sharing what I've experienced in my three years living here. If you have questions, do let me know, but you can also make up the most special tea or jam or honey you like! There are more than these four supermarkets, they just happen to be the chains most often seen in London. I'm certain you could find all kinds of lovely, rare things in other shops so feel free to invent!

Some next stops on our _London Done Write_ tour will be railway stations and soon I'll do pubs, parks, and shops close to New Scotland Yard. After that KtwoNtwo asked if I could discuss places near 221B that do takeaway/delivery. I shall try! P.S. Read the comments on each of these entries because people have great tips about things mentioned in each chapter!


	6. Marylebone Railway Station

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marylebone Railway Station is quite literally around the corner from 221B Baker Street...what do the boys see when they wander past?

Marylebone Railway Station is the closest railway station to John and Sherlock. From here you can catch trains across the UK, while beneath the railway station is the Marylebone Underground (the tube) which takes you across London.

Though the boys don’t often catch a train from the Marylebone Station, preferring Paddington or Euston Railway stations, as they tend to offer more trains at more times…well, still, on summer evenings they like strolling past Marylebone—it’s quite literally around the corner, being barely a quarter mile away from 221B.

Sometimes the boys nip inside and get themselves a pasty. John usually pats his stomach and says “I shouldn’t,” then John does—if Sherlock agrees to share one of the cheese and onion. Somehow John never complains when Sherlock then buys them sweets from the chocolate shop just left of the pasty vendor.

Near the station are cafes, restaurants, and the Landmark (where you might recall Sherlock briefly became a French waiter), as well as supermarkets, businesses, and Western Eye Hospital, but even with all that there is, in truth, not much reason for the boys to wander over to that part of town often, unless they're craving those pasties again.

P.S. You can say the station's name a few different ways, but the one I hear most often sounds like _mar-lee-bone_. I have never heard mary-le-bone.

**Other Pretty Railway Stations to Come...**

I’m hoping that a peek at the inside and outside some of the more famous (and pretty) railway stations will help you give verisimilitude to your  _Sherlock_ stories, whether you write the boys ducking inside one to take cover from the rain, or have them running to catch a dawn train to Cardiff or Oxford.

Paddington is probably the next station I’ll show, and yes, Paddington Bear is named after it. They even have a brass statue of the little charmer, right beneath the lovely Paddington clock. But that’s for some other time.

_There are more[images of Marylebone Railway station](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/138433684079/marylebone-railway-station-marylebone-railway)—and much bigger—on my Tumblr, should you need a bit o' nitty-gritty detail._


	7. New Scotland Yard's Environs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does Lestrade see when he steps out the door of New Scotland Yard? Well…this.

First thing you want to know about New Scotland Yard (NSY) is that it's supposed to be moving from where it is on Victoria Street, heading closer to the city, nearer where it was born actually, if I understand correctly. So, if you're going to set a story in NSY you'll want to research when/if that move has at last happened.

Having said that, right now NSY is where it's been for nearly half a century so here's what's close to it, here are the things Greg Lestrade sees and, one hopes, enjoys. Like a sandwich at Gregg's, or a stroll in the park with the British government.

And now…the environs of New Scotland Yard.

(Note, all the tiny images here [are big over here](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/142785573689/new-scotland-yards-environs-first-thing-you-want).)

**Setting Your Watch By Big Ben**

Greg probably does this a lot, because very close to NSY is Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and the River Thames.

So yeah, he comes out the front door of NSY and peers round the left side of the building to have a gander at the famous clock tower, checking if his watch is right. It always is (Greg spends good money on good things when he needs them) but he checks anyway. Probably because he likes catching sight of so many landmarks so close. He wasn't born in London, and he's tickled, yes he is, when he gets a moment to remember its beauty.

**Posting Birthday Gifts**

Right, after checking his watch Greg may go to the post office. If your Greg has kids or siblings or _someone he cares about_ (ahem) and he wants to post a gift, well the post office is literally right in front of the NSY, as you can see.

That green bit next to it is a cafe but I personally think Greg is heartily sick and tired of their offerings and if he has one more [coronation chicken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_chicken) sandwich he's going to throw it to the ground, step on it, twist his heel, then pick up the remnants and get far more satisfaction feeding it to the pigeons that are in…

**Christchurch Gardens (The Park Right Across from New Scotland Yard)**

It's pretty feeble as parks go, being right next to busy-busy Victoria Street, but sometimes you crave some greenery and wildlife, even if that pigeon wildlife sometimes looks as tired of the bustle as you do.

Even if all you're feeding your coronation chicken to the birds, the girl who's sweet on you at the sandwich shop gave you a nice little [Bakewell tart](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/BakewellCake_\(cropped\).jpg/220px-BakewellCake_\(cropped\).jpg), so there's that.

And very, very rarely, a man with a brolly sits beneath one of the park's trees. Lestrade always looks for him but he's hardly ever there. Instead, sometimes he's…

**…Down at Greggs, the Other Sandwich Shop**

Strutton Ground is only right across the Victoria Street but it's often down this small, almost-quiet road that Greg goes because that symbolic crossing of Victoria Street makes him feel he's gone a million miles from work.

There's no rhyme or reason to it, but sometimes Mycroft's at the shop and he _always_ knows which sandwich Greg wants. Last month he'd bought them both soup and a grape pot because Greg was again thinking he wanted to lose weight, but today—yeah, Mycroft's there today—the British Government's got them both a ham and cheese toasty and Greg is so happy he thinks he'll kiss him.

Greg thinks that a lot.

**Grafton Arms: The NSY Local**

After work, everyone at the Met goes to this pub. Greg's not the only one who needs that symbolic crossing of the street to feel he's left work behind and the fact that the Grafton Arms is nearly within sight of the Met doesn't matter.

Because on a summer evening Greg loves to sit outside the pub with a pint and watch the foot traffic and the market and just…just appreciate the city he loves. When he has time to stop. And think. And see.

Yeah. London. He loves this place.

Plus Mycroft looks so good in dusk light.

_Reminder 1:[All images here](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/142785573689/new-scotland-yards-environs-first-thing-you-want). Reminder 2: I do highly recommend you read the comments if you've found this series helpful, being as folks either ask great questions in them, or provide great information in them that'll help you learn more about London for your creative endeavours. Feel free to prompt this series or add your own knowledge in the comments. Thank you!_


	8. Montague Street

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Sherlock Holmes, before there was Baker Street, there was Montague Street.

For Sherlock Holmes, before there was Baker Street, there was Montague Street. Says the good detective in _The Musgrave Ritual:_

> "When I first came up to London I had rooms in Montague Street, just round the corner from the British Museum, and there I waited, filling in my too abundant leisure time by studying all those branches of science which might make me more efficient."

Yes, he had too much time on his hands, but fortunately for Sherlock, Montague Street is smack dab in the middle of a _ton_ of things that could keep him busy.

For the last three years I've attended a college right behind Montague Street, so I can tell you what I know of the area. Montague Street is very short—one block long—and it's in the Bloomsbury district, a tidy, urban, pleasant part of town very dense with museums, universities, and student housing.

If you want to write about Sherlock's life before John, and would like to know a bit about Montague Street, I hope this chapter offers a bit of aid. Be sure to look [at these large photos over on Tumblr](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/144096575869/montague-street-for-sherlock-holmes-before-there).

**British Museum & Grant Museum of Zoology**

The British Museum is perhaps the most famous resident of Bloomsbury (yes, it's named after the famous writers' group) and Montague Street runs right along the museum's east side.

The museum is a frenetically busy place at almost all times and to be honest my head canon for Sherlock wouldn't have him there over often. It's just too jammed with human bodies to be of much use to him, but your mileage and your Sherlock may vary.

More interesting, as far as I'm concerned, is the [Grant Museum of Zoology](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/71/5c/4a/grant-museum-of-zoology.jpg), which is a tiny wood-paneled museum with a very Victorian aesthetic. About one minute from Montague Street, it's full to the rafters with stuffed old creatures, things in jars, and the mezzanine—which visitors can't reach but can see—has skeletons leaning over the railing looking down at you (see the photo!). The museum is free and I have this idea that if enough bored Sherlock would wander its small space peering into the many, many specimen jars—including the lion's mane jellyfish.

**Universities and Schools (UL, UCL, SOAS & RADA)**

Behind Montague Street are many places of higher learning where Sherlock might have either studied, borrowed lab time, or discussed clues with suitable college professors.

The three main schools, each less than a minute from Montague Street are: University of London (UL) where John Watson "in the year 1878...took my degree of Doctor of Medicine" as he says in _A Study in Scarlet._ (And where Atlin is about to finish her BA!) University College London (UCL) is also right there, as is the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

UL, UCL, and SOAS all buttress right up against one another and are right behind the British Museum, so it is barely any time at all to go from one to the other and if nothing else Sherlock could probably have skulked about attending classes as the mood struck.

A fun fact: At UCL is a cabinet inside which resides the [stuffed body of Jeremy Bentham](https://londonhistorians.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/500px_jeremybentham_autoicon.jpg). You can read up on [why Bentham is there](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/who/autoicon). Who knows, maybe when it was rainy Sherlock would have walked the two minutes from his flat to go visit Mr. B…

Right across from the University of London is the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where Mr. Tom Hiddleston studied, and while Sherlock might pop in there for the occasional coffee at their cafe, he could also feasibly see some of the plays they put on as well.

In among all this is also the massive and scary-looking [Senate House Library](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Senate_House,_University_of_London,_Malet_Street,_London-18August2008.jpg) (used as a filming location in 1984), while the British Library is a fast ten minute walk away.

**Montague Street Quick Facts**

Montague Street is a one-block street, at one end of which is the British Museum, while the other end turns into Russell Square because, interestingly, that's where Russell Square is. Yes, the site of Sherlock's youthful accommodation ends at the park where in BBC canon John Watson meets Mike Stamford.

I love the smell of verisimilitude in the morning!

While I can't speak for what it was like in ACD-canon era, right now Montague Street is well-to-do, full of hotels and flats, and is planted dead centre of a lot of colleges, museums, and busyness. It would have been a good spot for Sherlock to fill in his "too abundant leisure time."

Any questions do please let me know and, as always, read the comments for these wee chapters because it seems someone is always adding useful data!

_If, like IshtarsDream, who prompted this entry, you want a chapter on a particular London area relevant to Sherlock, ask me and I'll try and include a chapter here for you. I'm happy to be able to show you what I see so that you can see in mind's eye the city in which our beloved boys live._


	9. Postman's Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a strange, bitter-sweet, easy-to-miss park in London but it is wonderfully well worth visiting. I think John and Sherlock know this place. I think the first time John went there he felt like he’d found something precious, because indeed he had.

This is a strange, bitter-sweet, easy-to-miss park in London but it is wonderfully well worth visiting. I think John and Sherlock know this place. I think the first time John went there he felt like he'd found something precious, because indeed he had.

Postman's Park is tiny, just a small space quite near the Old Bailey, where the boys are sometimes expert witnesses in criminal trials, it is also close to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Barbican, and almost right next to the Museum of London.

The park often sees city workers taking their lunch on the benches there, but it is never really a busy place, so it's easy to take your time and to see what it is that makes this place so special. And that is this:

It contains The Watts Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice.

This memorial is a wall of plaques remembering women, men, and children who gave their lives to save others. Many of the people are siblings who died saving a sister or a brother, or young people who put themselves in harm's way so another would live and in that act they themselves died.

For example, there is this plaque:

Elizabeth Boxall  
Aged 17 of Bethnal Green  
Who Died of Injuries Received  
In Trying to Save  
A Child  
From a Runaway Horse  
June 20 1888

That's the one I think which saddens John the most. For Sherlock it's the plaque to Henry James Bristow, an eight-year-old boy, who in 1890 saved his little sister's life by removing her flaming clothes but himself caught fire. Oh but there are more plaques to solemnly see, including Alice Ayres who, in 1885, saved three children from a burning building at the cost "of her own young life," there's a plaque for Frederick Alfred Croft, a 31-year-old inspector who, in 1878, saved a woman from being hit by a train but himself was run over. There are several dozen more.

This wee park is surrounded by other buildings, so it feels sort of tucked away, still, and quiet. In the park there's a tiny fountain in the middle of a little pond with goldfish in it. Anomalously there's also a half dozen banana trees and, dotted behind them and at the edges of the park—which used to be a graveyard—are headstones.

Though it's a bit of a solemn place, do make a point of seeing it if you can. It's lovely and worth a bit of time so that you can appreciate that sometimes people do extraordinary things for each other.

Of course John and Sherlock know this firsthand for they would give their lives one for the other. Whether they think so or not they are, in their own ways, heroic. We all have that potential.

_[More and larger images here](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/145619287434/postmans-park-this-is-a-strange-bitter-sweet). Also, here is ['Unsung'](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6589021) 221b_hound's lovely wee story about the park. As always, I suggest reading the comments of this series as people often provide lovely information that can help you fashion your fics. And, as always, please let me know about a place in London you'd like me to cover. I return to the US at the end of October, so get those requests in soon. I love doing these and sharing the city we love, so please ask questions. I'll take lots of photos and still post entries even after I get back to the States. Thank you! NOTE: In the comments Kostia suggests [downloading the app](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/everyday-heroes-postmans-park/id726983891?mt=8) for the park. "The app is designed to show you more information when you're actually at the park and pointing your camera at the tablets, but you can skip that part and look at every single tablet and read about every single hero. I love it."_


	10. Primrose Hill Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes grey weather gets down into John’s bones and he feels a weird sort of fatalistic. Words won’t work in that instance, so Sherlock takes his love to the best view he knows nearby—Primrose Hill Park—and looking out over things, well for some reason it sets John right.

Opinions may differ, yes they may, but if you ask John H. Watson, he's going to tell you that the prettiest view in all of London is atop Primrose Hill in Primrose Hill Park.

The park—and therefore the view—is a ten minute leisurely walk north of their flat. Remember how I said that John and Sherlock [can see Regent's Park from 221B](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3800917/chapters/8858953)? Well Primrose Hill Park sits on top of Regent's Park, [rather like a lopsided hat](http://67.media.tumblr.com/9aa7926e4299723f7da989c574816771/tumblr_o9xzbaIz1a1qja1bno5_1280.jpg) (and yes, that red circle is Baker Street; you can see much bigger images of what's mentioned here on [my Tumblr)](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/post/147045562909/primrose-hill-park-opinions-may-differ-yes-they).

So, in my head John and Sherlock go to Primrose Hill just to look at the view on lovely days, but they especially go when John's feeling blue. That doesn't happen to him as often as it does to Sherlock, but sometimes the grey weather gets down into John's bones and he feels a weird sort of fatalistic. Words won't work in that instance, so they go to the hill and looking out over things, well for some reason it sets John right.

The view from on top of the hill is wide and lovely during the day, showing you a broad swathe of south London, but it's at night when the city shows to its glittering advantage.

Foregoing the benches to sit on the grass, John'll point out things that are so obvious as to be pedantic, yet he does it every time and every time Sherlock—who sits behind him, arms wrapped tight around John's waist—nods and says softly, "What else?"

So John points out the bright red or blue or rainbow colours on the London Eye off to the right. They both like the Eye best when there's some sort of event going on and the colours of the lights ringing the Eye reflect the event.

For example, the Eye may go green for St. Patrick's Day and all over red for Valentine's. During the Olympics in 2012 it was red-white-and-blue all at once. During London Pride it may have all the colours of the rainbow flag. One time it was yellow and neither of them could figure out what holiday that was for but it did make for a nice change. Usually the London Eye is one colour and that colour represents whatever company currently sponsors it. When EDF Energy sponsored the Eye, the large Ferris wheel was blue most times. Now that Coca-Cola sponsors it, the lights are usually red.

After awhile John'll say what he always says about the tall thing to the left of the Eye. "The BT Tower looks like a sonic screwdriver, don't you think?"

Sherlock didn't use to know what that was but he looked it up. Next time John asked his rhetorical question, Sherlock answered. "I think it looks like Ten's sonic, though maybe a bit of the eleventh Doctor's as well." John had got so over-excited he crawled on top of Sherlock right there on that hillside and snogged him senseless. (And yeah, I think the BT Tower most closely resembles the sonic of David Tennant's Doctor Who.)

There's also the bright spear of The Shard poking grand up into the sky as your gaze heads left. Sometimes the glass that tops the Shard—it's a viewing platform up there—changes colour, like the Eye. Usually it's lighted a bright white, but during Christmas it cycled from red to green, too. A little further along there's the dome of St. Paul's, usually over-lighted at night in a way that John thinks doesn't quite become a cathedral.

Though it doesn't much snow in London any longer, when it last did…that was 2012 as well…Primrose Hill Park was full to bursting with families climbing the tiny hill so kids could sled down. It was positively frantically full and so if you decide to write some mysterious thing happening in a story and you need a crowd, it'd be a bit original to set it in Primrose Hill Park during a surprise snowfall. I'm serious, the whole place was just packed.

By the way, if they don't feel like going to the park, John and Sherlock may walk along Regent's Canal, which flows through a large part of London and lies between Regent's Park and Primrose Hill Park. It's a pedestrian path that weaves by the hectic commercialism of Camden Town, through the fussy charms of Little Venice, and on past new and lovely flats built right up to the water.

So, those are the best bits about Primrose Hill Park really, but you can see lots of the city from your perch on this pretty hill and over the years Sherlock will take John there quite often, both mornings and nights.

From that pretty spot Sherlock helps to remind John of the beauty of his beautiful city. And of the ever-abiding love of his Sherlock.

—

_So, I've finished my three years of college in London and will be moving to New York City sometime this fall. I'd love to do two things: meet Sherlockians in NYC and make the most of my few months left in the UK. So, if you're in NYC and want to meet, please contact me on my[Tumblr](http://atlinmerrick.tumblr.com/ask) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AtlinMerrick). If you have suggestions for other "London Done Write" chapters, put them in the comments please. Focus on things Google Maps can't show you because their cars can't drive there. Thank you!_


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